Scientometric analysis of the publishing behaviour of EU + UK authors in engineering education and further afield

Abstract

The authors present a scientometric procedure comparing engineering education (EE) publication output in different countries. Selected European countries were compared using a snapshot of authors published in EE journals during a two-year period–895 in all. The entire publication careers of these authors–39,322 publications–were analysed to determine the breakdown of educational and non-educational publications. Spain and the UK produced the most publications, and we propose explanations based on relevant national policies. France, Germany, and Italy had notably fewer EE publications relative to their general engineering and science research outputs, whereas Portugal, Ireland, and three Nordic countries were the opposite. Countries varied widely in the ratio of educational to non-educational publications. Non-educational publications typically had a greater impact on authors’ h-index values. We believe this procedure can longitudinally map and compare EE publication output in and across Europe, providing a valuable resource for policy-makers and researchers in the region.